Vehicle-wheel.



PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907.

III/I/I/I T. MIDGLEY.

vEEIoEE WHEEL. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1905.

' held in position IE s'r'rns arena onion.

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 4, 1907.

Application filed August 25,1905. Serial No. 275,739.

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS MIDGLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in Hartford, county of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to vehicle wheels and more particularly to tires and rims for such wheels.

The invention contemplates the provision of an improvedjresilient tire for vehicle wheels and of an improved, rim for such wheels ada ted for cooperation with the tire to af-' for a seat therefor and provide means for eflectivelysecuring the tire in position upon the wheel. As is well known, resilient tires for vehicle wheels and particularly wheels of motor vehicles are more or less difficult of application to and removal from the wheels, and in some types of tires there isa considerable tendency of the tire to creep on the Wheel. This is articularly ,true of pneumatic tires which are apt to sli upon the wheel rim when artially deflate if positive clampinglgor anc oring devices .are not employed expressly to prevent such slipping.

Various devices have been devised for the purpose of preventing the slipping or creeping of pneumatic tires upon wheel rims and it is the primary object of the present invention to improve upon such devices by providing a tire and rim construction of such character that the tire may be very quickly and easily removed' from the .wheel or applied thereto but will be positively and securely on the wheel whether inflated or partially deflated, 'so that creeping is rendered'impossible and the injury to the tire which would result therefrom is wholly obviated. v

The objects above stated and others which will hereinafter appear are attained in the tire and rim construction hereinafter described in detail and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which a section of the tire, the rim, and the felly of the wheel are shown in perspective.

The scope of the invention is hereinafter clearly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing by the reference characters marked thereon, F designates the felly of the wheel which may be of 'anysuitable construction, and 1 designates the main memberof the rim, which presents at one margin an upstanding or outwardly disposed fixed flange 2, which is preferably given a slight lateral curvature, as shown. At the opposite margin the main rim member presents a downwardly or inwardly turned and inclined lip 3. outwardly disposed flan e 2 and the inwardly or downwardly dispose lip 3 the outer face or surface of the main rim member is-shaped to afford a suitable seat for the greater portion of the tire which is designated 'enerally as T. Adjacent to the flange 2 is t e seat 4 for one margin of the tire shoe or casing S, which isof t e type commonly known as he Dunlop and is provided near its margins with inextensible reinforcing wires 5, which determine accurately the circumference of the shoe or casing at the margins. The seat fl for one edge of the shoe or casing is a little higher or farther removed from the axis of the wheel than the remaining portion 6 of the outer surface of the main rim member, the surface 6 presenting a slight depression to facilitate the passage of the edge of the tire shoe or casing over it'as the tire is applied to or removed from the rim. The depression serves as a seat for'the inner portionof the expansible inner tube I of thetire.

The tire shoe or casing S, while characterized by reinforcing wires or bands which render the margins inextensible, difiers from the ordinary Dunlop type of tire casing in having one margin of the, casing provided with a protective sheath. The margin a, which contacts. with the flange 2, is not sheathed, but. the other margin b of the shoe or casing is provided with a channeled ring 7 which is of fixed diameter and is firmly secured upon the margin of the tire shoe or casing so that it becomes permanently a part thereof. This ring 7 may be applied to the margin of the shoe or casing in any suitable manner, but it is preferably done by taking an uncut rin of sufficiently small diameter to be easily pdace'd in position with the margin b of the shoe or casing loosely engaging the channel of the ring and then forcibly expanding the ring until the mar in of the shoe or casing is firmly seated in t e ch annel, as shown in the drawing. The ring will then Between the upstanding or become in effect apart of the tire shoe'or caswheel.

' of the tire casing must ring is adapted to rest against the outer face of the n. Eined 1i 3 of the main rim member. The other sic. the channeled portion of the ring is exter led to present an upstanding flange 8 which has a slight lateral curl at its free margin and this flange supports the adj acent portion of the tire in substantially the same manner as the fixed flange 2 upon the main rim member supports the opposite portion of the tire.

Various devices may be employed for bolding the channeled ring 7 in engagement with the lip 3 of the main rlm member, but I preferably employ for this purpose an expansible channeled ring 9 provided with a turnbuckle 11 or equivalent device for expanding and contracting it. The ring 9 is characterized by a channel 10 having divergent sides which engage with the upon the tire casing to together when the ringQisex anded. When the ring 9 is contracted sufficlently, the ring 7 is released and the tire may be removed Without difliculty "from the wheel. In applying a tire of the kind described and illustrated to the rim, the shoe or casing and the expansible inner tube are slipped into position on the rim at one operation, thering 7 being brought at once into contact with the inclined lip 3 of the main rim member, upon which it approximately seats itself. The

previously contracted ring 9 is then slipped within the ring 7 and expanded by means of the turnbuckle 11 or other expanding device until the ring 7 the ring 9, and the lip 3 are all wedged firmly together.

The operation of removing the tire from the wheel is theexact reverse of the operation of applying it and is effected by simply contracting the channeled ring 9 until it can be disengaged from the lip 3 and thenslipping the tire laterally over the lip 3 and off the From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing it will be noted that when the tire is in position upon the wheel, one margin of the outer casing is positively clamped and that any .creepingf? of the tire on the rim is prevented, whether the tirebe inflated or deflated. It will also be noted that the rim comprises a main member, which has one side flan e forming an integral portion thereof an a removable side flange which is'permanently associated with the tire and is integral with the channeled ring in which one margin of the tire casing is seated. It will likewise be seen that only one margin be slipped over the .main rim member to seat the tire upon the rim, the other margin bein designed for contact with the lip at the e ge of the rim and therefore simplifying the operation of placing the tire in position u on the rim. 1

The advantages 0 having the marginof the tire casing which is positively clamped,

lip 3. and the ring 7 wedge them firmly inextensible edge portion protected by means of a sheath such as the tires, it is to be understood that certain features of the invention may be embodied in tires of other types, although the invention is primarily designed for use in connection with pneumatic tires, in which the effects of creeping are more pronounced than in other tires and which must be more frequently removed from the wheel.

Having to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a rim having a lip or bead at one mar gin thereof, of a tire having an incompressible edge portion adapted to seat against said bead, and a channe ed member adapted to receive both said bead and the incompressible edge of said tire and hold the tire in place.

2. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a wheel rim having a bead or lip projecting inwardly from the wheel face thereof at one margin, .of a tire having an incompressibleedge adapted to seat against said bead or rim, and a channeled member adapted to receive said bead or lip and the edge of thetire seating thereagainstand secure them' inplace.

3. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a wheel rim having a lateral portion adapted to form a seat for one margin of the wheel tire, of a tire having an incompressible .andinextensible edge portion adapted to seat against said lateral portionof the Wheel rim, and an expansible and contractible locking ring by the expansion of Which the edge portion of the tire is secured in position agalnst the lateral portion of the wheel rim.

thus described my invention, what 1 'I claim as new and desire period and the- "ftoo 4. In a vehicle Wheel, the combination with a wheel rim having at one margin an inwardly and laterally inclined bead or lip, of

a tire provided with an incompressible and of substantially V- sha ed cross-section adapted to seat against said bead or lip, and means for wedgin said edge portion into close engagement 'witii said bead or lip.

5. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with-a wheel rim resenting at one edge a lateral face adapted to serve as a seat for one edge of a tire, of a tire provided with an inof the tire to secure them in proper relation.

. havin an edge adapte to seat upon said extensible edge portion seated against said adapted to receive the edge oi-the tire and a :0 face, and an expansible locking ring adapted portion of the rim' and hold them in proper to engage said rim and the inextensible edge relation.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my 6. In a vehicle Wheel, the combination name in the presence of two witnesses. with a Wheel rim presenting a lateral face I THOMAS MIDGLEY. serving as a tire-seatin surface, of a tire Witnesses:

l WM.- P. CALDER,

latera face, and a channeled locking ring S'. G. PIERCE. 

